Blog Design Pointers 3

Today's pointers are going out to Michele from her new blog Short Girl, Long Island. She needed help with her new blog, she wasn't quite sure where to start or how to get certain things set up, so... this is what she is working with so far.

My initial thoughts:
• She got everything set up and started posting, but it really almost look like an unfinished page, which can throw people off at first glance.
• I'm not a fan of having the Ads at the top of the sidebar. If you blog is new, just start building it up to the point that it can warrant having ads. Right now having text ads there almost gives it a vibe of a spam type thing.
• The colors and fonts end up feeling sterile.
• it's simple which can be good, but it just seems that it needs more.

Here are my pointers...

1. If the overall design is going to be simple and not graphic heavy, I would suggest having a nice clean font in the header and not have the background be too busy. The font that was used here is called Wisdom Script and can be found here.
2. I'm not a fan of script or handwritten fonts for the blog post titles. I would go with a cleaner legible font that is quick to read and find.
3. How about changing the body font to a medium gray? It give the overall feel a softer touch which comes across more pro looking.
4. I think you should have a profile image at the top of the sidebar that easily shows a little about you and is clickable to lead the reader to a page with an "about me" section. (Michele, write me through email if you would like this graphic).
5. I noticed that there is no navigation on your page. Navigation not only gives the reader more information and/or links to other social media for you, but it also gives visual interest to the overall design.

Daddy/Daughter Dialogue

I'm not exactly sure why I'm still amazed each day, because it has already happened so many times... but how does a 16 month old out of nowhere pick up dialogue and vocabulary that you haven't focused on...

5 exchanges that happen just about every day between Me and my Daughter.

1. "Bah"

"what's that honey, you want to take a bath?"

"Bah, Daddy"

"you want to take a bath with Daddy?" *shakes head yes*

2. *As the bath is filling up* "tee" *holds hand up to mouth sideways*

"you want to brush your teeth before we get in the bath?" *shakes head yes*

3. "Honey, do you want a cracker?"

"Coo coo, coo coo"

"you can't have a cookie right now honey, what about a cracker or some kiwi?"....

"coo coo"

4. "Moufff" *runs over to the cat holding one of their toy mouses*

"honey if you chase them they won't play with the mouse"

*runs toward me, throws mouse at me* "moufff, meooowww"

"honey, I can't make the cats play with it, they are lazy"

  

5. *leans down in sitting position*

"poo poo"

"oh man"

"pee pee"

"ok, let's get a new diaper"

I love this girl so much.

Blog Design Pointers 2

Back at it again. Today I have some pointers for Holly from hollyknitlightly and here is her blog...

Upon first visit my thoughts are:

• I like the idea of a different more creative layout, as in.. there is no header. However, it just looks like there was a header and now it's gone, there is nothing when you first visit the site that establishes the name or logo. 

• I do like the color of the background, but maybe not so much for a background, I think it is too bold.

• The navigation for the site doesn't stand out very much which isn't great for having people learn more about the blog.

• Holy Moly, that topic cloud is HUGE!

Here are my Pointers...

1. How about a lighter softer background. I made it have a subtle knitted square pattern and is in a color that goes well with the yarn in your logo. Click here to download background pattern.

2. Why not have your logo in the top left of the column? A blog doesn't need a huge header, but needs a logo of some sort that you see when you first arrive at the blog. 

3. I noticed that your profile information doesn't fit properly underneath the photo, the html is a little wrong. Below I have some code that you can put into your top widget to replace what is there for the profile image now. It will add the logo at the top and have the profile image below with proper text placement.

<div align="center">

<a href="http://www.hollyknitlightly.com/"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoMZRzLpGnLGMjvTK7lYsvw9_G4tSPFe9eAwSrID98DPM9ONPGq9D6Z7Nfx3xZaZ-mv_7HbuQmezmbzUwmILpiX4bZnnM11Vl1WROoUC4Z6VmmTmuF74mtoMITkJIL_udPsj8CPxyukJAM/" /></a>

<a href="http://s1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/mooreaseal/graphic%20design/?action=view&amp;current=portrait.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/mooreaseal/graphic%20design/portrait.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a>

<div>Hey!  I'm Holly & I love olives, sangria, David Bowie and sheep.</div>

</div>

4. Your navigation doesn't stand out enough, I would suggest some kind of bars  that are the full width of the column in an interesting color with the text larger. (write me if you need help with this, I can't give everything away here)

Things just got real...

I try to keep this blog lighthearted and not tooooo personal, so there are some things that don't usually come up. After a casual conversation with Kenny from smonkyou the topics of loving being a Dad and trying to be the best Dad we can be came up. It lead to something that we had in common that I don't often discuss. He told me of a feature that he was going to be doing on his blog and invited me to take part... that was about a month ago, and today is the day that it is up... and today is the day it got real...

So, stop over to his blog to check out the feature, and make sure you check out his blog on a regular basis, because he's rad. His own post on this feature can be found here.

Q & A: Fill in the Blanks Blogger Tag Game

Tag... I'm it! It is my turn as delegated by Craig and Michael from The Hipster Dad.

1. I started my blog because...
Ever since I found out that Rach and I were going to have a baby, I wanted to immerse myself in all things baby. I got tons of books, bought baby clothes, tons of research online about this and that... and I stumbled upon a web of blog dedicated to parenting and life from each individuals perspective. I decided that it would be great way to document my journey and have a "journal" of this time for my Daughter when she is grown.

2. One thing I love seeing on other blogs is...
I love seeing other people's creativity on their blog. It's really great to see all of the interesting talents that people have. It inspires me to get creative.

3. Something I love about blogging...
I love meeting rad people. I seriously have met more likeminded, genuinely nice, interesting people since I've started blogging than I had in a long time before. I talk through email or ichat or phone to a bunch of fellow bloggers often and plan on doing a little traveling to meet many in person.

4. Favorite blog posts of mine are...
A little story about getting my junk crushed while Rach was giving birth
Video of some of Addy's first steps
I thought I was so clever, a Dr. Seuss type rhyme
A fairytale for Adeline

5. Something my friends in real life know about me that I've never before mentioned on my blog...
Hi, I'm Don and I'm a sappy movie cryer. Yeah, put a movie in from of me with a heartfelt story, a sad story, a story of redemption, a story of a old guy and a kid flying around in a house held up by balloons... and I'm a puddle of tears.

6. My new favorite blogs to read are...
Being that I'm addicted to instagram right now and haven't been reading a ton of blogs, how about my favorite instagram accounts right now...
@deerjerk - I love her illustration style. She does wood carvings... so good.
@craignb - I kinda feel like he is a brother from a different mother, although he's probably closer to being my son: ) I like seeing what his day is looking like.
@jvdt - I love seeing shots from parts of the world that I wish I could visit more often. Paris and Norther France.... Please and thank you.
@localhoneybaby - I like seeing what my wife and Daughter are up to, even if sometimes all I have to do is turn my head a little more to the right.
...actually all of them, I love them all. ahhhh.

7. Some things I tend to avoid doing on my blog are...
I try not to state many strong opinions on politics or other touchy topics. I know it is important to have my blog reflect who I am and have my personality, I just don't think that my blog is the proper place to approach certain topics.

I tag Chelsey from the Paper Mama

Blog Design Pointers 1

Judging by the influx of emails that I received last week, a lot of you are looking for a little help with the look of your blog. I have decided that I will be doing 2 per week (one Tuesday, one Friday), so keep checking back.

The first blog was submitted by Amy, She said, "I have a mom/family blog. I want a clean/ dreamy type look and I also just want something new". http://www.justanothermomday.blogspot.com/

My initial thoughts on the overall look of the blog are this:

•The title of the blog is very cute.

•There are too many non relating fonts.

•Needs more cohesive sidebar elements and spacing.

I have taken her ideas of a simple, dreamy type look and have these pointers...

1) For the header, to accomplish a more dreamy feel, I did a light cream overlay to make the photos have a softer feel and chose a cute script font called masana which can be downloaded here. If you like the header here, write me and I will send it to you.

2) Also, going with the concept of "dreamy" I've created a subtle background with a light blue/gray and translucent cloud overlay. I have added this to a new freebies download page which I will be adding more downloads to in the coming weeks.

3) I would suggest changing your sidebar navigation to be more cohesive with the rest of the overall look. This can be a good place to add some new colors, you just need to make sure it gels with the rest of the look. Also, I would suggest using a nice clean font to make it stand out and be very legible.

4) I think you need to have a consistent look with your social media icons. Refer to these two blogs that I have finished recently http://www.craftylittlegnome.com/  http://www.saturatedcanary.blogspot.com/

5) I've never been a fan of script or handwritten fonts involved in the content of a blog. I would suggest using a simpler clean font for the blog titles and info.

6) I noticed a strange look to your facebook widget, and I realized that the sizing doesn't match up with the sidebar that it is contained in (I think the widget is too big). Basically there are 2 ways this can be dealt with. Either you can make it more narrow so it fits inside the column, or you can make it span across both columns like the images above the sponsors section. Here is how you can adjust the size of that widget.

find the widget in your layout mode and locate this code.

<div class='widget-content'>

<script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"></script><fb:like-box href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Just-Another-Manic-Momday/167914493226686" width="225" show_faces="false" stream="true" header="true"></fb:like-box>

</div>

as you can see the width="225" is stating that the width of that widget is 225 wide which is wider than that colum. You can adjust that number to be the width of that column and it will fit. OR, you can make it a larger number if you want to have it span both columns. ALSO, if you add height="anynumber" right after the width code you can add any number there to define the height of the widget...

I hope some of these ideas and pointers are helpful. Remember, the point of these posts is to help you get some ideas of how your blog can look better, please take some of my ideas and work on them and form them into your vision. I look forward to seeing what all of you come up with.

 - Addy's Daddy.

Flashback Friday Video Edition

 Yesterday @BellaBeanAz (Shannon) sent me a tweet asking if I still did Vloggin' Vednesdays anymore. I had almost forgotten about that video series that was so much fun, but so much work. It made me want to revisit some of those old videos. I've posted some of my favs below for those that didn't get to see them originally.

1) The first video is about a year old and it was basically just a day in our life. Pretty simple, but I love looking back to that early time in Dad-hood.

2) This video was a fun little video Rach and I did for a "how to" theme. 

3) Pretty classic video about things that I do that get on Rach's nerves set to a law and order theme.

4) A family vacation video of us with Rach's Family. It starts out with silliness and goes to a place that bring a tear to my eye.

Work it Out Part 2

So... we left off last week with me sending out the first draft. I wasn't 100% on it, but being the Brandilyn is such a sweet girl she said she loved it and the ideas. I had to step back and look at in in a couple of days and see what jumps out at me and what needs to be neutered (get it?) This is where we were...

... and here were my thoughts with fresh eyes.
• I'm not liking the layout of the header, I do like the feel and style, but it needs to be more balanced. It's just not a good use of that space. And I'm not crazy about the CAC logo, I think the idea is better than the execution.
• I think the idea of the orange sidebar is cool, I don't think it's going to fit this design.
• Adding an interesting but subtle background will do a lot for the overall feel and is doable now that I'm taking out the colored sidebar.
• Being that I'm going to add some hand drawn elements, I decided to make the buttons on the top hand drawn
• Add cat collar with tags hangin' off for social media links
• move the sidebar to the space between the buttons (my wife's idea)
• Oh my god Don, you are so clever... what about if there is a little simple hand drawn mouse that stays at the bottom right corner of the screen and as you scroll it moves down... brilliant, I tell you : )
I'm not sure if it's perfect, but it is much more appealing overall, we'll see how it sticks. This could be a keeper with just some more added embellishments.

Blog Design Pointers

So, I've decided to start a new little series here that will happen once a week. If you are in need of some ideas of how your blog design and layout could look better just email me a link to your blog with a little info about you and your blog to adelinesdaddy@gmail.com with a subject line of Addy Daddy Blog Pointers. I'm going to pick a blog or 2 each week and do a consult and post some images. Keep im mind, I'm not going to do the design and layout for you, but help guide you to do some changes on your own. Hit me up, I'm here to help.

Illustration from Start to finish

I was approached last week by Katie from Passive Juice Motel about helping her with an illustration/ logo that could be used on tags for her store and business cards etc. I've been wicked busy and backed up, but I really liked the imagery that she was describing... A fox, top hat, bow tie, monocle holding a tasty beverage. I took a quick look through her instagram account to see some of the dolls she had made and I saw these cute foxes.

 I was thinking, "when I get to this it's going to be fun, I'll use one of her dolls for inspiration on the look of the fox" and I closed the screen. Later, after I had finished some other work (building a site, not all that fun) I grabbed my sketch book and decided that it would be fun to mess around with the idea for the fox illustration as I sat in the living room with my wife and daughter. I liked the way the sketch was moving.

I didn't notice at the time, but I had actually mixed up the name, I was thinking of some yummy passion fruit drink, but it actually is "Passive Juice Motel" didn't notice until I had sent the first draft and put up on instagram. In any event, I was excited to see where this was going to go once I started working it more in illustrator.  SO... when Rach took Addy in to get her to sleep for the night I scurried into my office and scanned in my sketch. I really moved on it and was almost done when Rach emerged from the bedroom. I decided to be a good husband and stop for the night.

The next day I really wanted to see this thing done and previewed. It didn't take that much longer. She said they are going to be printed on a material like craft paper, so I set up the preview like that. The print was supposed to be just be 2 colors, but it was too much fun to color, so I had to send both. 

Pin It

Hey, I cried during The Notebook...

Pin It

Work it Out Part 1

When starting a new blog design there is an email that I always send that describes the process we will go through along with a set of questions so I can get some info to get the feel and personality of the blog (and writer). Today I'm starting a new series of posts chronicling the process of the design for the Sometimes Sweet/Adeline's Daddy giveaway winner Brandilyn and Cats and Cardigans. I'll start by showing the questions that I sent along with Brandilyn's answers, then I'll show you a little of the though process and finally the rough draft.

QUESTIONS / ANSWERS
•What is the title of your blog as you would like it top appear in the design?
cats & cardigans

• for your blog makeover, do you want to keep any elements from your current look?
 not particularly...i'm pretty flexible when it comes to changing things up. i've designed my blog myself using picnik.com, paint, and googling "how to.." so it's kind of a hodge-podge mess right now.

• do you have a color palette that you are leaning toward / any color combinations that should be avoided?
I always love blues and greens (especially pea soup green or turquoise), although i really can't think of any color combos i wouldn't like (maybe pink...i generally don't do lots of pink). i like crazy color combos, and i also like subtle, muted palettes. so i guess whatever you think will look awesome, i'd probably be cool with!

• is there any imagery or elements that you would like to see involved?
I am a bit of a crazy cat lady, so i'd be pretty excited about something cat-themed in the header (or really, anywhere else on the blog).

• what are your favorite things about your current blog design?
I like that it's fairly simple, but once again, i'm not terribly attached to any one thing on the blog and i'm ready for some change.

• what are your least favorite things about your current design?
I have like 12 different fonts going on; i'd love a more streamlined look in that regard. i'd also love more color and a little more personality. it feels very vanilla and messy to me right now.

• do you have a list of blogs that you would like to reference for design inspiration?
I scrolled through the "blog design" section on your blog, and seriously, i love all the blogs you've redone.  my favorites are probably the Paper Mama, Small House by the Sea, and Nice Girl Notes.

• Is there anything special that you would like to add to your blog that isn't there already? Like buttons, links, navigation.
I'd love a nice, organized way to get to my twitter, pinterest, etc., similar to what you did for Nice Girl Notes (i love the little buttons).

• Please include anything else (including photos) that you think would also be useful. 
I've attached the picture i have in my "about" button thing at the top right of my blog right now.  i like that one to have on the blog as a "hello" kind of thing, although it definitely doesn't have to be as big as it is now.

THOUGHT PROCESS

I started by looking at her current blog to see what she has going right now and to reference her notes against it. IT's not offensive, kinda cute, but I do agree there isn't a cohesive feel to it. I see we have a cute stylish type and also a self proclaimed "crazy cat lady" so I'm envisioning so cool fabrics, sewn buttons, and of course some cat themed graphics. I don't want the cat themed aspect of it to overwhelm the overall feel or make it look frumpy, so I want it to be more subtle and mostly in the accents. So, here is the sketch I put together and the notes.

• The top section will be a fabric that is almost like a sideways button up sectioning off the header with fabric patches sewn on for the navigation and logo.

• The logo patch will be something similar to the sketch with an "&" symbol in cat nose with whiskers to the sides.

• there will be one sidebar to the right of the content, with a background color that goes top to bottom of the blog. 

• for sections in the sidebar I'm thinking that sound cool cat oriented accents like a cat collar that wraps around it with cat tags hanging that will contain the social media links. Also other collars with bells.

• This is just the rough, so let me know if you liking it and I will do some more elaboration. Keep in mind that the Sometimes Sweet site started here and ended here.

QUICK COMPUTER MOCK

• Here is a mock of the feel and colors I was thinking.

Pin It

...next week, adjustments and reworks...

Designing for Bloggers.

     Lately I feel lucky, to be working from home doing something I love and being able to be near my wife and daughter all day... I'm not sure what I did to deserve this. Along with a ton of great projects, I am really enjoying meeting new people. When I do a full blog design for someone I really get to know the person in a way that I don't get with other design projects that I do. Ultimately I need to translate my impression into an online representation of them and their chronicling of life as they see it. 

     Earlier this month I was stoked to giveaway a free blog makeover with Danielle from Sometimes Sweet  (I did her blog design, and it was one of my favorite designs I've ever done, and it didn't hurt that she is such a rad girl to deal with) The winning blog was Brandilyn and Cats and Cardigans. I've decided to share this process with you, you can consider this like a HGTV show but instead of me redoing her kitchen... I'm going to be putting in a granite counter top on her blog (not literally). So far she seems like a super sweet nice girl, I'm going to enjoy learning more about her. (posts coming early next week)

     On the topic of blog designs, I finished up a couple this week, and I'm liking the way they turned out. It was great working with/ getting to know Krista and Samantha. I'm even starting another design for Krista's art blog soon. Check out their blogs, let me know what you think.

Pin It Full blog can be seen here

Pin It Full blog can be seen here

My Little Girl

I'm not sure if I have shared this before today, but about a year and a half ago when we were about to find out the sex of our unborn child, I was secretly hoping that it would be a boy, which I think is pretty common for a dad. In retrospect I'm not really sure why. I'm VERY far away from a macho, sports-loving dude, but I thought that I would identify more with a boy, because I was once a boy... what was I going to do with a little girl? What were we going to have in common? What was I thinking back then?

Obviously, I wasn't bummed that it was going to be a girl, I mean, it was our baby no matter what. But maybe I was a little unsure of how I was going to fit in. I thought that a mom was going to be so in tune with what a little girl is going to want at all times, but I see now that many times what a little girl wants... is her Daddy.

If I could go back and make the decision... I would have chosen a girl. I love this little girl so much.